Mill rebuild planned to start late summer, early fall

It’s been 15 months since a fire destroyed a grain mill at Valley Wide Co-op in Preston. A final design is being reviewed and construction on a new facility is planned to start late this summer or early fall.

The March 7, 2012, fire caused approximately $3 million in damage and destroyed the land-mark structure at 264 So. State.

Demolition of the burned-out structure was completed last summer by a specialty crews from the mid-West. A firm from Iowa, ABC Crane, took down most of the still-standing building.

It took several weeks for the company, who specializes in grain–mill demolition, to remove the mill that was built in phases. Some of the buildings were several decades old. Grain that was stored in steel granary silos adjacent to the mill was vacuumed out and sold. Another company removed the silos.

An employee of Ron Lowe Contracting, of Franklin, uses heavy equipment to demolish a warehouse at Valley Wide Co-op’s facility in Preston to prepare for construction of a new grain mill.

“The company has hired Halverson Company from Salt Lake City as the general contractor for the new facility that is expected to cost around $3 million,” said Shaun C. Parkinson, general and feed-division manager for the Preston operation. “Halverson will oversee engineering and construction of the mill itself.

“A new office complex, which is part of the reconstruction project, has no contractor assigned yet.”

Parkinson said demolition of an old warehouse, just north of the farm store, was completed last week to make way for site preparation. The work was completed by Ron Lowe Contracting, Franklin.

“We will push ahead with all the necessary site work to prepare for actual construction. We anticipate that work could start within 60 days, but no firm time-line has been set. Once building has started, we expect construction to take about six months,” he said.

This story is sponsored by Oneida Stake Academy Legacy Bike Ride.

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